Adjusting to life after overseas mission work – by Ian Graue

Mission work in an overseas setting taught me much!  Above all, I learned much more about myself.

I left Australia to lecture at Martin Luther Seminary, Lae, Papua New Guinea (PNG) without any formal orientation.  Both my wife, Joyce, and I had initiated a number of informal discussions about PNG with returned mission personnel, but beyond this there was no orientation.  Upon reflection, this may have been beneficial as I did not really know what to expect (and this reduced the possibility that I would have developed high expectations)—so I had to take things slowly and have all my senses on full alert.  Being super attentive to the new world around me was extremely important and this was something I learned time and again.

By being attentive, I was able to have my eyes (all my senses really) opened to new things…new ways to do things…new perspectives…new ways of understanding the scriptures…new… .These new ways, perspectives and understandings ‘happened’ by accident when relating to or new sisters and brothers.  Our new friends were open to be our teachers and mentors and I was able to learn a great deal while working alongside them.

Being immersed in and working daily in another culture allowed me to reflect on my own culture and the many suppositions/assumptions that I had made about Western culture and its rightness and correctness.  It enabled me to ask questions about why we in the Western world do things in a particular way; in many cases I realized that I had a distorted (or at least a very limited) world view.  My reflections/experiences have contributed (at least in part) to me being ill at ease with what I have seen in the US culture since I arrived in mid 2009. This current election season does not ease the discomfort that I feel living in ‘my’ culture!

The saying ‘flying by the seat of one’s pants’ is an apt description when I reflect on my day to day work in PNG and also in the Central African Republic (CAR). Regularly, I was called upon to do things that stretched me; sometimes I was asked to do things of which I had little or no knowledge or experience. When I have been similarly challenged in the US (or in Australia), I have been able to seek out others with more expertise than me.  Or I have been able to enroll in a course that enabled me to be ‘brought up to speed’.

None of these supports were at my disposal in PNG and CAR. For example, when I was asked to lecture on subjects of which I had little experience (or knowledge in some cases), I soon realized that the education system in Australia had prepared me well to ‘know’ how to learn and how to develop and teach new courses.  When I found myself managing the seminary campus, I realized that my experiences, especially my years on our family farm, had taught me much about maintenance.  My experiences as Lead Teacher (called a Senior Master in Australia), as a member of the Jaycees, serving on various community and church committees – these had all prepared me (at least partially) for the challenge to be a manager at Martin Luther Seminary.

I am humbled as I reflect back to realize that I have had doubts about God’s plans for my life.  How could I have doubted that God was at work in the good and the bad of my life when I think about these experiences?  God had prepared me through my daily activities…on the farm…at school…at university when I studied Agriculture, Education and Environmental Studies…in my life as a father and parent…in my life leading up to, during and after the death of my first wife, Fiona…in my life as I married Joyce and we all made a new life together.  All my previous experiences were used by God as preparation for my work as God’s hands doing God’s work in PNG, CAR and now in the USA.  Never doubt that God is at work in your life!

Since arriving in the USA in July 2009, I have been able to further reflect on the experiences that God gave me in PNG and CAR.  Some of these ideas are reflected in the above, because the action of leaving a culture (and returning or entering another) enables you to reflect on what was part of your life and I am aware that it is extremely difficult not to make comparisons.

There are many things that annoy and challenge me today in the USA, but I prefer to use my experiences in positive ways as I interact daily. I can’t help but wonder what God has in store for me here.  What does God expect of me in my work…in my church life…in the community in which I now call home?  How is God using those things I currently find challenging: my impression that I am not a good fit for my new community, the absence of potential employers who acknowledge my many skills and abilities gained from 15 years working in development,  and my modified world view from years living overseas?  I will only learn the answers to these questions when I look back in years to come.  But I am convinced that God is at work in my current challenges (and I expect they are actually opportunities!) and has promised to be with me through the good and the bad!

Ian Graue was born and educated in Loxton, South Australia.  He received degrees in agriculture, education and environmental studies at Adelaide University.  He taught in South Australian high schools for 20 years before leaving in 1995 with his wife, Joyce, and 3 children to lecture at Martin Luther Seminary, Lae, Papua New Guinea.  After studying French in Burkina Faso, he began work as an educational consultant in the Central African Republic in December 2004.  They arrived in the USA in 2009 to obtain medical attention for Joyce.  They now live in Raymond MN where Joyce is pastor of St John’s Lutheran Church and Ian works for a non-profit organization, PACT for Families Collaborative, with disconnected youth in after school programs.